Inside a Siberian tiger farm

Emil Lendof

featured

Aug 22, 2017

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A trainer feeds baby Siberian tiger at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, northern China. Getty Images

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The center is one of two Siberian tiger parks in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, about 300 miles from the border with Russia. Getty Images

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It is considered the world’s largest for breeding the Siberian, or Amur, tiger which is listed as endangered by the World Wildlife Federation. Getty Images

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As many as 540 Siberian tigers are known to exist. Getty Images

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The Harbin center opened in 1986 and claims an 80-percent survival rate among the 100 or so cubs born in captivity every year. Getty Images

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However, a government plan reveals it could be another decade before the program actually releases a tiger to the wild. Getty Images

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In 1996, it opened to the public as a commercial park allowing tourists on safari buses to view its 600 tigers in an open range area meant to simulate their natural habitat. Getty Images

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A Chinese tourist wears protective gloves as she holds a baby Siberian tiger. Getty Images

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Chinese tourists pose for pictures in a monument of a tiger at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park. Getty Images

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Customers pay extra to throw live chickens or ducks to the tigers to eat, or to hold a tiger cub. Getty Images

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Siberian tigers leap to grab live chickens hanging from a cable after tourists paid to feed them at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park. Getty Images

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A Chinese tourist feeds Siberian tigers from a tourist bus at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park. Getty Images

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A Chinese tourist dangles a piece of raw meat in front of a Siberian tiger as they ride in a bus at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park. Getty Images

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Critics regard the park as a large-scale breeding farm, where tigers are kept in unnatural conditions and unable to hunt to survive. Getty Images

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Despite a longstanding government directive, some facilities in China have been accused of trading products made from tiger parts, including ‘wine’ made by soaking tiger bones in alcohol. Getty Images

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A Chinese vendor wears a shirt as she sells ice cream at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park. Getty Images

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The park divides the tigers among different areas in the park according to age and seniority, and cubs begin ‘wilderness training’ when they are three to four months old. Getty Images

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Wildlife experts say inbreeding and natural habitat destruction pose the greatest risk to the Siberian or Amur tiger subspecies. Getty Images

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